A judge's reference to "12 Angry Men" invalidated Ezekiel Snyder's initial 15-year sentence.
The judge offered no additional comments as Ezekiel Snyder was sentenced for what the prosecutor called "an extremely heinous crime."
The eight-year prison term for the 24-year-old from Red Bank, New Jersey, is a little more than half his original 15-year-sentence, which was invalidated after a trial judge in 2011 referenced the 1957 courtroom drama "12 Angry Men" in his instructions to the jury.
Ezekiel Snyder (Photo courtesy NJDOC)Snyder was convicted for his role in a brutal 2008 home invasion in Phillipsburg during which a co-defendant sexually assaulted a woman at gunpoint.
In 2014, a court panel said the trial judge, John J. Coyle, erred when he told the jury to watch the film, potentially putting pressure on dissenting jurors in Snyder's trial.
Snyder in April pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery. In exchange, the state offered an eight-year state prison sentence for the plea, which Judge H. Matthew Curry accepted Friday.
Snyder, who appeared in a tan jail garb and shackles, was led from the courtroom by a sheriff's officer. He barely spoke during Friday's proceedings.
"He has just totally disregarded society's rules," Warren County Assistant Prosecutor Victor Jusino said, describing a criminal history that began when Snyder was 14.
The defendant is seen out of focus at left in this scene from 1957's "12 Angry Men." A judge's reference to the movie during while instructing a deadlocked jury in deliberations over a Phillipsburg home invasion caused a 15-year-sentence to be overturned. (MGM photo)Snyder was 17 when he and Taquan Range, of Phillipsburg, were among a group of three people who barged into a Phillipsburg apartment on Jan. 29, 2008, looking for a drug dealer. They had hit the wrong house but refused to leave, terrorizing and assaulting the 21-year-old woman who lived there, authorities said.
Range put a gun to the her head, led her upstairs and sexually assaulted the woman in front of her 3-year-old son.
The third intruder was never identified.
Range is serving a 20-year state prison sentence on charges including robbery and sexual assault.
Jusino said the state "agonized" over Snyder's recommended sentence but agreed to it based on Snyder's age at the time and his willingness to take responsibility.
It was "an extremely heinous crime, a crime of opportunity" that injured people including children, the prosecutor said.
Snyder's attorney, Edward Hesketh, asked the court to honor the plea agreement.
"This is not a giveaway. This is a plea and a sentence," Hesketh said. "He's going to serve time. He accepts responsibility."
Jusino said the victim also accepted the plea agreement, though she did not wish to appear in court Friday.
"She has put this behind her," he said.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and find him on Facebook.